Don't throw away your old books

I am currently re-reading this book I received as a child, which I vaguely recollect came as a book prize in one of my primary school years.

Each time I re-read a story book, I find a fresh perspective, a whole-new image in my mind depicting the scene and the progress of the story, in a way that was never that before. It does not matter how many times I've read it before as a child or as a teenager, or even that I already know the ending and most of the plot - the story always seems new. And most of the time I can empathise more with the characters than previously, because I have gone through more myself.

For this, I am very grateful to my mother, who has kept almost every single book from my childhood, in rather good condition too, from Ladybird Well-loved Tales to Enid Blyton's fairy tales and Malory Towers, to Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, to lots of abridged versions of classics such as Jules Vernes' Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. Truly, this is a wonderful collection worth keeping, I see now. Other than saving me LOADS of moolah on buying new books for my own kids, these books have also brought me renewed outlooks on life.

I am, of course, adding to the "Library", as we call the bookcases in my mom's house, although the shelves are nearly bursting with books. I can hardly refrain from spending money at 2nd hand book sales, and some rental bookstores (I always get the ones which have been lent out a few times so their sale price is lower, but still in great condition; in any case, I doubt brand new books will maintain their brandnew-ness for long in the hands of my children). Plus we didn't have any Dr Seuss' titles, nor any of the TV shows tie-ins (or is it tie-ups?) such as Postman Pat, The Wombles and El Nombre. And if it's 2nd hand, it's usually a good investment.

Most importantly, if I am purchasing a title or series that came out recently, such as the Artemis Fowl books, I always inform my sister so she doesn't go and buy the same thing.